A hazmat-related motor vehicle accident results in ambulance transport to a hospital. This action will result in _________ of ambulance personnel and the medical care facility.

• A. Primary Contamination
• B. Tertiary Contamination
• C. No Contamination
• D. Secondary Contamination

Answer: (D)

When hazmat materials are involved, contamination can move with the people and gear that carry the hazard. Primary contamination happens at the release site on those who first contact the material. But once a contaminated patient is transported to a hospital, the hazard is introduced into a new environment—the ambulance and the medical facility. That transfer to a different location is what we call secondary contamination: the ambulance crew and hospital personnel can become contaminated even though they weren’t at the original release. Proper decontamination procedures are essential to prevent this spread. The scenario does not describe contamination at the scene only (that would be primary), nor does it describe contamination passing to yet another location beyond the hospital (which would be tertiary).